A board of pilot experts appointed by U.S. aviation regulators has reviewed Boeing's proposed software fix for the grounded 737 Max aircraft and concluded that pilots won't need additional simulator training once the plane is returned to service.
The report by a Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standardization Board is a first step in reviewing the still-unfinished upgrade to the 737 Max family of aircraft. It was posted on the FAA's website, and the public has until April 30 to make comments.
The proposal calls for stepped-up training on the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, that is linked to two fatal crashes, but it stops short of requiring costly simulator training that could complicate the plane's return to service.
Boeing shares climbed as much as 2.5 percent on the news. Shares closed with a gain of about 1.8 percent. A Boeing spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Boeing's finalized software upgrade hasn't been sent to the FAA for final approval, and the company isn't expected to do so until the end of the month at the earliest.
The company's best-selling jet has been grounded since March 13, three days after two fatal accident within five months killed a total of 346 people. In both cases, the anti-stall system activated as a result of a malfunction, causing the planes' noses to lower and confusing pilots. Both planes dove steeply into the ground, killing everyone aboard.
The Chicago-based plane-maker is devising a software fix to make the system less aggressive and to prevent it from making the repeated nose-down commands seen in the accidents. It will also include new cockpit alerts showing when the system malfunctions.
The Flight Standardization Board is made up of FAA officials as well as technical experts from outside the agency. It establishes requirements for pilot training on aircraft models and may be consulted after accidents, according to FAA documents.
It initially signed off on the training requirements for the Max aircraft in 2017. The board last month conducted a new evaluation of the anti-stall system as a result of the accidents.
"The MCAS system was found to be operationally suitable," the report said.
The report said the system should be a "special emphasis" area for pilots being trained on the plane for the first time or transitioning to it from the most recent generation of 737 aircraft.
"MCAS ground training must address system description, functionality, associated failure conditions and flight crew alerting," the report said.
No airlines in the U.S. currently have a Max-specific simulator.
Returning the 737 Max to service will require many more steps than the report. Not only must it receive a technical sign-off by the FAA, but there is also the issue of public acceptance after the high-profile crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Foreign regulators, which control operations in their own nations, also need to agree that the plane is safe.
The FAA held a meeting on Friday in Washington with the three U.S. airlines that fly the 737 Max and with representatives of their pilot unions to discuss the steps needed to return the plane to service.
In addition to training issues, the union representing pilots at American Airlines, the Allied Pilots Association, supports a review and updating of a critical procedure required to prevent a crash caused by the anti-stall system before the fixes.
The list of steps required to turn off the motor that was driving down the nose of the two planes that crashed apparently hasn't been updated for decades, according to pilots who were in the recent meeting with the FAA.
"Let's take this unfortunate coincidence and opportunity to clean house on this," said Dennis Tajer, an association spokesman and a captain at American Airlines. "Let's not use the excuse that it wasn't related to MCAS and it's all about getting the Max flying again. If we can do something better today, why put a timeline on it that's distant?"
Once the upgrades to the system are installed, the earlier procedure won't be needed because the system shouldn't be strong enough to cause a crash during a malfunction, according to Boeing.
Information for this article was contributed by Julie Johnsson of Bloomberg News.
Business on 04/17/2019